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Training Notes: Sanchez, Glauber, Oduro And More

By: Adam Jardy

The Columbus Dispatch - February 04, 2013 09:29 PM

The first of two days in central Ohio brought a handful of new faces to Crew training today at
SuperKick in Lewis Center.

First, Argentine midfielder Matias Sanchez is in camp and will train with the Crew for the next
few days. If all goes well, technical director Brian Bliss said, he will then officially be offered
a contract.

“He’s training with us these two days here and probably three or four in Florida and at that
point we have to make a decision whether we want to sign him and move forward,” Bliss said. “He’s
getting a good feel for the club. His agent is here and all that. What we know about the player, if
he does and looks the player that we think he is then I think it’s something we’ll move forward
with.”

The Crew will leave Wednesday for Orlando, where it will train until Feb. 23.

Today marked the first day of training for defender Glauber, who signed with the club two weeks
ago, as well as the first day of training in central Ohio for defender Agustin Viana.

“I wanted to come here the first day of training,” Glauber said. “I wanted to start training as
quick as possible, but the visa didn’t come in as quick and I had to wait a little. Now it’s OK and
I’m excited to start the training.

“I’ve seen some games and I know what we need to do to qualify and be champions. I didn’t know
so much, but when I signed here I went on the internet to see tapes and watch games. I know a
little (now).”

Viana joined the Crew for its stint in Bradenton, Fla., and played left back in a pair of
exhibition matches. Bliss said the team will look at his versatility in Orlando.

“I think he’s done all right,” Bliss said. “He’s filled in nicely over there at left back. He
gives us some experience over there. He’s a pretty good passer of the ball. I think he’s got to
learn our league in terms of some of the guys he’s going to match up against if he’s going to be
left back, because there are some guys out there with pace and speed.

“I still think we need to take a look at him in the center midfield as well in the Orlando camp
just to know where we are with him and know that he can fill in there. That’s up to (head coach)
Robert (Warzycha).”

Although he expressed no preference for a specific position, Viana said he is familiar with the
league and one Crew legend from watching television in Uruguay.

“It’s a league that is improving a lot,” he said. “You can see stars like (Thierry) Henry,
(David) Beckham, Guillermo Barros Schelotto. He was very well-known in our country because he’s
famous and he’s a great player. This is a nice opportunity to show what I can do.”

Schelotto and Viana have never met, however.

Bliss said that should the Crew come to terms with Sanchez, they would likely be done adding
outside pieces to the club for now.

“We’ve probably got a little bit of money left but not enough to really go and get a significant
foreign signing,” he said. “For us to go sign a guy from outside just to sign a guy, I don’t think
we’ll do it. I think we’re pretty much good with what we’ve got other than evaluating some of the
draft picks and a few invitees for the last 2-3 spots.”

Oduro comingToday, the Crew and Chicago Fire officially confirmed that they had pulled off a
long-discussed trade. In return for midfielder Dilly Duka, the rights to midfielder Robbie Rogers
and allocation money, the Crew received speedy forward Dominic Oduro.

Oduro will join the Crew on Wednesday in Orlando after admitting that the last few weeks have
been a bit strange.

“At the end of the day, I just stayed focused,” he said in a telephone interview. “This is all
part of the game, the ups and downs. Obviously I heard the rumors but I didn’t let that get to me.
I just stayed hard and worked hard and if it happened, I’d be really happy. If that wouldn’t have
happened, I still would have been working on my game.

“At the end of the day I’m very excited to be with the Columbus Crew. I’m looking forward to a
new beginning and hopefully I can get there, score some goals and help the team get to a
championship.”

I asked Bliss if Oduro would line up alongside Jairo Arrieta with Federico Higuain playing
underneath. The technical director said that is one option Oduro brings to the Crew.

“Potentially you could (do that) if you wanted to play a diamond in the midfielder and Higuain
as the head of the diamond,” he said. “That’s not out of this world. That’s up to (head coach)
Robert (Warzycha), how he decides to deploy his guys on the field, but we could do that.

“He could play wide right probably. It’s probably not his forte but I think he could play over
there. He could certainly play wide right in a 4-3-3 as a winger. We used (Emilio) Renteria a
little bit in that role and Dom has more speed than Renteria and a similar skill set on the ball.
It’s not out of this world that we could play him over there, but it’s not the reason that we
brought him in.”

As for playing with Higuain and Arrieta, Oduro said, “I’m really excited. With the Chicago Fire,
we would spend as much time as possible trying to defend those guys. Higuain is a fantastic player.
I haven’t seen Arrieta as much but I’m excited to play alongside them.”

Trialists no longerBliss confirmed three names who are no longer in the Crew’s plans.

“We broke off from (Brett) Brettschneider, we broke off from Nate Bascom, we broke off from
Sergio Guvenisk,” he said. “I think that’s about it.”

However, Guvenisk might resurface once his injured hamstring heals.

“We didn’t think he’d be available when we went to Orlando,” he said. “Maybe we revisit that 10
days from now when he might be healthy.”

Goalkeeper searchWith Andy Gruenebaum and Matt Lampson both under contract, the Crew continues to search for a
third goalkeeper for the 2013 season. The team will carry three this season, and although Daniel
Withrow was selected in the supplemental draft and has reportedly impressed the coaching staff so
far the Crew will bring in at least one more candidate during its Orlando trip: Samir Badr.